Papal pulpit, U.S. politics just don't mix

It's unfortunate that Pope Francis got dragged into U.S. presidential politics -- and Donald Trump's campaign -- on his return trip to the Vatican City from Mexico.

He's too holy a man to be falsely accused of slinging mud with the best mudslingers that any democracy in the world can offer -- Donald Trump being one of the vast number of supreme slingers extending back to our Founding Fathers.

Still, Francis shouldn't have said what he said.

He's given Trump and his supporters more ammunition for his political fantasy ride toward the Republican presidential nomination and the Oval Office.

On Friday, the Vatican issued a second statement from Pope Francis since the controversy erupted. It read: "In no way was this a personal attack nor an indication of how to vote."

On Thursday, the pope, after spending time praying for impoverished migrants at the southern U.S. border, replied to a reporter's question this way: "A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian."

Maybe the pope was weary. Maybe he was a bit emotional. But he soon caught himself. He said he didn't want to "get involved" with telling U.S. Catholics who to vote for, adding: "I say only that this man is not Christian if he has said things like that. We must see if he said things in that way and in this I give the benefit of the doubt."

Now that's more papal like.

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Because there is no doubt what Trump has said. To paraphrase "The Donald," illegal immigrants from Mexico are criminals and rapists and ruining the United States; he'd build a wall -- 20-feet high -- to keep them out; and then he'd deport all 11 million illegal immigrants within the U.S.

Trump's statements are absurd. And yet ... the pope must understand that many Americans who don't agree with Trump on immigration have and will vote for him. They're frustrated with the intransigence of the existing political parties to tackle serious issues like border security and the overall ineptitude of the Obama administration. They see Trump as a breath of fresh air beholden to no one.

A lot of these Trump supporters are ... Christian.

If there's a lesson to be learned here, it's that Pope Francis has more pressing things to be concerned about than Donald Trump -- at least for now.

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